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June 2020 Vol. 13, Issue 6
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Wow, June arrived already? Traditionally, this month is filled with lots of activity for our families and Scout youth: schools closing, graduation celebrations, busy sports league schedules, camping and outdoor adventures, being outside to enjoy sunshine, fresh air, nature, and fun at our parks and camps.
This year has been dramatically different as we all have been forced to look inward and rely on our families for support, and online resources for learning and entertainment.
We continue to be impressed by your creativity and dedication, keeping our Scouts engaged in character-building programs during these challenging times while "Sheltering-in-Place". Click here for our latest Council access update! We hope you all stay healthy and remain positive until we can meet again in-person outdoors to share in the ideals of Scouting!
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Cub Scout Speaker Series - Wednesday 06/03
Join us Wednesday, June 3 at 4pm for our very popular Cub Scout Speakers Series. Special guest Jay Alexander has been a professional magician over 25 years, and has his own venue in SF: the Marrakech Magic Theater. He performs over 400 shows per year, supports Scouting, and is going to teach our Cubs a few tricks!
Email
Nancy Rozell
to register your Cub Scout to join in all the fun and magic!
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Roundtable Meeting - Thursday 06/04
Unit leaders, don't forget to assign someone from your Pack/Troop/Crew to attend this final Roundtable meeting of the season online at 7pm Thurs
day. All program groups will meet together this month!
7:00 pm - - - Opening of town-hall style meeting with Council President Chris Cardinal, Council Commissioner Sam Guyton, and Scout Executive Michael Dybeck. You will have the opportunity to ask questions about how our local Council is doing, and learn what is happening with the BSA National organization.
7:30 pm - - - approximate start of the annual Camp Marin Sierra winter camp lottery. Your unit "draft pick" is determined by overall roundtable attendance and JTE score during the past year. You must be present to make a reservation! Plan ahead with your Scout unit using this seasonal
calendar.
During the CoronaVirus pandemic, we've been sharing ideas for keeping Scout meetings, activities, and advancement fun during these times of social distancing and Sheltering-in-Place. The regular Council Roundtables are always held the first Thursday of every month starting again in September through next June. It's a great time to meet other leaders, share best practices, and ask questions.
VOA & Venturing Rally
The Venturing Officers Association plan to hold their meeting through the regular Google Hangout call-in method for all the Presidents and VOA members from 7:30-8:30 pm this Thursday. There is no quarterly Venturing Rally currently scheduled.
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National Trails Day - Saturday 06/06
This weekend we celebrate American Hiking Society's annual National Trails Day.
The BSA and the AHS have a long partnership to encourage physical fitness and outdoor awareness through responsible hiking, trail management and public lands access. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been challenged to spend time outdoors. #1 Rule: always practice social distancing and follow the guidelines of your local government (Marin) or the federal government (
CDC),
whichever are more restrictive.
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Cub Scout Grade and Program Rollover - Overview
The Cub Scout Grade and Program Rollover will occur the weekend of
June 5 to 7
. During this process, the registration records for
ALL
youth will be advanced one grade and all 12th-grade members will be advanced to no grade.
Impact
:
- Lions will be rolled to first-grade Tigers and Adult Partners will be retained as Tiger Adults;
- Tigers will be rolled to second-grade Cub Scouts and Adult Partners expired;
- Third-grade Cub Scouts will be rolled to fourth-grade Webelos.
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Virtual Merit Badge Midway Weekends
Announced at the May Roundtable meeting and posted on the Council website homepage, this new volunteer-supported program is a great way to begin working on Scouts BSA advancement requirements with our own local Marin Council Merit Badge Counselors. During the past two weekends, more than 120 Marin Scouts have participated in this popular activity online with these 24 Merit Badge subjects offered!
American Business Gardening
American Heritage Genealogy
Aviation Oceanography
Basketry Personal Fitness
Citizenship in the Community Personal Management
Citizenship in the World Photography
Communication Public Health
Crime Prevention Pulp & Paper
Disabilities Awareness Scouting Heritage
Environmental Science Signs, Signals & Codes
Family Life Sustainability
Fire Safety Weather
Due to overwhelming initial demand, additional sessions are now being added Saturdays & Sundays through June. An updated schedule and registration information will be announced at the June Roundtable meeting this Thursday!
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Pantry Chef Cooking Contest Winner
We are pleased to announce the winner of our April Pantry Chef Cooking Contest!
Jacob Wolfstat from Troop 1, Mill Valley was Sheltered-in-Place with extended family and made a well-balanced dinner for nine people. Jacob will be receiving a
Sur la Table gift card to encourage developing his kitchen skills. We congratulate all our Scout entries for their creativity and cooking passion, and each will receive a gift certificate for the Marin Council Trading Post.
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Continued Scouting@Home Options
In response to the extended "Shelter-in-Place" order and "Social Distanc
ing" concerns still in place for June, we are pleased to continue offering "Scouting@Home" programs geared toward fun, learning and advancement for our Council youth.
Click here
for exciting details and resources on our Council website homepage, in addition to the many great activities below!
Getting Children Out in Nature
The children and nature movement works to connect kids and families to the benefits of experiencing nature, and supports this important goal of Scouting.
With each passing day of the CoViD-19 crisis, it becomes more clear that too many children are lacking access to nature and the outdoors.
Each week, they'll be posting new resources from incredible partners, tips, tools, blogs and webinars, along with the best and brightest ideas from the field. This website is your virtual gathering place and a platform for sharing and connecting with nature.
Virtual Field Trips to places of interest
There are many interesting web resources available for easy access including museums, the National Parks, and more.
We found a great collection conveniently located all at one site; click here!
BSA National Council resources
This
web link continues to be updated with some of our favorite Scouting activities for each age group that can be done at home. Please check back regularly, and let your friends know that these activities are a great option for at-home fun and learning for Scouting families and non-Scouting families alike!
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Emergency Funding Campaign
Thus far, 2020 has been anything but typical. In addition to the medical suffering and loss of those afflicted with CoViD-19, many individuals and businesses have also been impacted by crippling economic conditions. The Marin Council is not immune from this financial crisis. In the space of two months, $250,000 in anticipated revenue was taken off the table as donations came to an abrupt halt when the Shelter-in-Place order took effect.
If nothing changes, we could experience a significant deficit which will hamper the re-opening of our properties and severely damage Scouting in Marin. That would be a horrible blow to our community and we are working hard to try to shore up that loss. To that end we have kicked off an Emergency Relief Campaign and hope that through donations from our supporters we have the financial wherewithal to come out of this financial crisis in a position of strength, able to continue our mission to serve the youth and families of Marin. To donate to this campaign please click the link:
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Important Adult Leader Training
The Marin County Shelter-in-Place order has been extended into June. What a great opportunity to update your training record NOW!
Registered Adults should take advantage of free BSA online training courses, many of which take less than an hour to complete. Access
the many programs offered through the BSA National Council's "my.Scouting" website.
Youth Protection Training, Cub Leader Position Training, Scoutmaster/ASM Position Training, and Venturing Advisor Position Training
: all are available online for free! Follow these steps to
register and update your training record:
- Create or log-in to your personal account at this my.scouting.org link;
- To renew your Youth Protection training (YPT) click on the YPT logo at the upper right side of the screen, or
- Click on the "BSA Learning Center" to find the online version of the Leader Specific training courses noted above.
Hazardous Weather
training is also required to be considered a trained leader and wear the "Trained" patch on your uniform. It's only 30-40 minutes online and you will learn some great information! Just click on the title and the link will take you there!
Wood Badge 2020: Eager to spend a weekend in the beautiful hills of Marin? Sign-up for Wood Badge NOW! This newly-updated top-level training course is shortened to just 5 days spread over two weekends in the outdoors learning valuable skills in order to better serve Scouting. You'll learn about leadership, planning, team-building, Scout skills, and Scouting's history. Our local Wood Badge staff does a great job making it fun, educational, and memorable!
If you're a registered Scout leader and have completed Youth Protection Training, then you're eligible to participate! Session dates are September 11-13 and 26-27 at Camp Tamarancho in Fairfax. For m
ore information or to register, please click here!
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Summer Camp Programs - - - CANCELLED
An Important Message from our Scout Executive:
We have been struggling over the last two months to determine whether we will operate our traditional outdoor summer camps in 2020. A number of our Council committees have been involved in an extensive review of matters ranging from health and safety to general program activities. We have had discussions with local Health Departments for both Marin and Nevada Counties and have bench-marked with BSA councils and camps across the country. We have also surveyed our Scouts families to ascertain their comfort level with camp during the pandemic and also whether they would enjoy the camp experience this year in light of the highly-restrictive nature of how we would need to run our program.
After balancing all of those factors, we have determined it is not in the best interest of our Scouts, volunteers, staff, or Council for us to conduct Cub Scout Day Camp at Camp Tamarancho or resident camp at Camp Marin Sierra this summer. We would only operate a camp if it was a safe camp, compliant with governmental regulations, and a positive experience for our Scouts and their leaders. To one degree or another those thresholds will not be meet at either of our properties for our traditional summer camp programs. While this is disappointing news, I strongly believe it is the right decision.
We will continue to work with our respective health departments to explore opportunities we might have later in the summer for unit and family camping. We know that our Scouting families will need to have some time this summer in the woods away from home; hopefully we can help meet that need.
I sincerely appreciate the foresight and dedication that everyone, volunteers and staff alike, has shown in our approach to this matter. Cancelling our camps will undoubtedly bring about many difficulties for our Council and our Scouts, but I know that our dedication as a team will get us through this challenging time and continue to provide the leadership our council needs.
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns you might have.
Be Well. Be Safe. Be Prepared.
- - -
Michael Dybeck
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2021 National Scout Jamboree
The BSA National Jamboree (NSJ) is a Scouting celebration that happens just once every four years at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia. This incredible adventure builds friendships, patriotism, and a spirit of Scout unity. Participant
registration is now open for the next NS
J
to be held July 21-30.
It is important to consider that a National Scout Jamboree will happen only once or twice during a young person's tenure in Scouts BSA, Venturing or Sea Scouting. That's why many people call a National Jamboree a "flagship BSA experience." Over the 10 days, Jamboree participants will experience unforgettable adventures at world-class venues packed with incredible moments. They can experience the Summit's
legendary action sports programs
, attend the diverse Merit Badge Midway, enjoy exciting stadium shows, and trade patches with Scouts from all 50 states and many foreign countries. In doing all that, your Scout will join a tradition that has been a part of the BSA since the very first National Scout Jamboree in 1937 when 25,000 Scouts traveled to Washington,DC.
Marin Council is now forming a National Scout Jamboree Committee composed of interested adult volunteers. We are planning to send a Scouts BSA troop of 36 young men with 4 adult leaders, and a Venturing crew of 8 young women and 2 adult leaders.
The next phase will be to find quality leaders to get started in building the Troop and Crew leadership. Email District Executive MJ Andrews for more details.
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BSA Announcement
More details and FAQs can be found on the BSA National Council website
here.
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Talako Lodge News --- Order of the Arrow
We hope that our Scouting families are staying safe!
In keeping with the continuing social-distancing precautions, our monthly Talako Lodge meeting at 7pm Tuesday, June 9 will be held via ZOOM. Meeting details and link will be sent out to all Arrowmen.
Due to ongoing uncertainty with the CoronaVirus pandemic, the National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC) scheduled for August 3-8 at Michigan State University
has been cancelled. All staff and participants will receive full refunds for the registration fees; y
ou can read more
here
. The OA National leadership is hoping to organize a virtual experience instead with more information forthcoming.
We've been refining an online elections process for OA candidates. If your troop would like to hold a virtual election, please let us know via the email contact below. Candidates who were elected any time in 2019 will be able to participate in the next Fall Ordeal in October, as well as any candidates elected in-person or virtually this year.
For any other questions about the OA Lodge, please contact us
here.
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Marin Council offices and Trading Post are now open again!
As a reminder, under the continuing "Shelter-in-Place" order, social distancing and face masks are required in public. The Council now has limited access available per Marin County Public Health directives as follows:
Effective Tuesday, June 2, 2020, the Marin Council office will be open to the public, and our office staff available on a limited basis. Please be aware:
- We have temporarily limited our public office hours, Monday through Friday from 9am to 3pm.
- When visiting the office, please wear a mask. Non-employees are asked to remain only in the lobby area.
- We will be staggering staff physically working in the office; if you need to see a specific staff member, it is suggested you schedule an appointment.
- Whenever possible, business should be conducted over phone or email.
- Council Executive Staff are always available via email if working remotely or in the office (Michael Dybeck, Nancy Rozell, Michael "MJ" Andrews).
Effective Monday, May 18, 2020, the Marin Council Trading Post opened for "Curbside" pickup only, with the following considerations:
- Trading Post hours are Monday through Friday, 10 AM to 2:30 PM. Prepaid orders may be picked up after hours.
- Walk-up as well as orders placed in advance can be accommodated. It is recommended large orders be placed in advance.
- Orders can be placed in advance by calling 415-454-1081 or emailing both Mary Vasser and Cynthia Mueller.
- Customers are not able to enter the store; an employee will pull your order.
- Clothing cannot be tried on before purchase.
- We cannot accepting merchandise returns until after SIP is lifted.
- Credit / debit, check, or unit account charges are preferred forms of payment; payment can be accepted at time of pick-up or when placing an order.
- Please wear a facemask when visiting the pick-up window.
- Practice physical distancing if waiting in line.
Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding in this regard. Please e
mail Scout Executive Michael Dybeck with any questions or concerns.
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Keep on Scouting . . .
At the Marin Council, we will continue to do our best to keep you informed of
changes in our program calendar as the weeks pass. We will also strive to
highlight new ways for your family to continue to enjoy and benefit from
Scouting-at-home under these unique circumstances.
Please check our website regularly for the most current information, and note the frequent social media activity with posts on Instagram and our individual Facebook pages for the Council  , Tamarancho and Marin Sierra .
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